Signal appliance for motor-vehicles



C. M. HEID.

SIGNAL APPLIANCE FOR IVIQTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I`9I7- iii.

atto: ne 1,1 ,5

Ci M. HEID.

SIGNAL APPLIANCE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES. APPLICATION FILED JUNE i, 1911.

1,359,476. v Patented Nov. 16,1920.

A.a suena-suine,

IIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIUIII C. M. HEID.

SIGNAL APPLIANCE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.v APPLICATION man JUNE 7. 19u.

Patented' Nov. 16, 1920.-

66 3 sHEETs-sHEET 3.

'QMHQ ,Jvr mwa UNITED Vsla'rr1-sv l CHARLES M. REID, or nninfrnivnsynvlgmg l; y r y Be it known that I, CHARLES, M. Hnrn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Erie, in the county ot' Erie and State of Pennsylvania, have. invented "certain new and usefulflmprovernents in Signal Apph-` Y ances for Motor-Vehicles; and lido,` hereby Vso declare the following to bea; ull,.jcl`ear, and exact description of the invention, such` as will enable othersskilled in theartto which it appertains to make and use the saine.k

,T he present invention relates to electrical switches, and the object of the invention is the provision of a novel and improved switch device controlling 1 an electrical motorl for ,operating a reciprocatory member, whereby the successive operations inc'losing an Aelec*- .trical circuitwill result in saidrnember being vmoved back and forth,r such as foruoperating a signal inemberof a vehicle serna-4 phore or the like. Y. n Y

. With these `'and other objects in Aview as will appearas the description proceeds, the invention comprises the variousnovel` fea- Atures of-construction, combination and are ,rangement of parts as'will beniore fully described hereina-terand set forth with particularity in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, i z o Y IFigure` 1 Vis ahorizontal` sectional View through the device.. .I Y 44j y Y Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the slidable bracket armf or member and" switch plate Y' carried ,by it..

VFig. 3 is fa vertical..sectionalA viewQ-taken Von the line 13 .-37of.. Fig. 1,flooking in the direction of the arrow. .Y l

Fig. t is a similar. view showing the trip arm inthe jact of releasing one of the spring latches. v v Y Fig. 5 is a vvertical sectional viewA taken on the linev 5-IA-5of Fig.1.

yFfgf is fa top plan view 'ofthe' switch plate showing thefcontacts thereon; Fig.,` 7. 's. a'topvplan` view of the contact plate withwhich theswitch plate coperates. 4 Slis: a diagrainniatie'V view Vrepresent- Y Y ingthe signal syxtem when the signalis sit-ionedfwithiii the housing, and

Righ- 9 Lis, afsimilar-diagrammatie view representingthesignal systemjwhenthe" sig.- j

nal. has. `been. extended.

p :from` the housingto a vdisplay position. 1`

Specification of y.Letters Patenti` Ving description.

ings, :the reference numeralV -1 represents a suitable housing .whichfjis provided atwonel end wlththe door opening v -tached to the standard andeXtendshorizon'- and at right anglesto the ,armi 15.` Thearm fetenfedfnov.16;:1920;

l Y .application mea June 7, 1917. serial Nar/'3,351.4

Siniilar characters of reference used 55 todenote corresponding parts throughout theaccompanying drawings and the followeferring moreiparticularly"to the dravvy I .A 'main standard is Lvertically disposedwlthin the .housing anda `guide bar` 6 is at- 16 bifurcatedor-lthe freceptionofa slidl able switchplatef17-andwhichlis adapted l n tor-bear against and-coperatewith aeontact f i plate-lwhichis rigidly secured to theoutsideof the,V arnilj. VVAyheaIfi-ngIplate 19 is attached to the, innergfaceg-o. n the bracket ,arm 16 in eifel-'lappingrelationtodtheinovable switch plate, ,andserves tor hold; the

switch rplate in operative position'vwitl'iil the. bifurcation of th'ebracket arrn,-\16a f 85 The switch plate;17.is providedwithffa pair of vertically disposed-elongated con;

4tactslz20 and 21, a pairl of horizontally ydisposed elongated contacts22 and-23, and an elongated @contact .12eis disposed Vmedi-ally A.and horizontallygof the switch plate. The iied-V contact'platelS is provided withcontactpoints 425, 26, 27, '281, 29, `30 and. 3-1 ,that

areadapte'd to cooperate with the contacts onthe switchl plate f1.74 Vto alternately coinpletefthe.,circuit throughthe primary 'and secondary circuits aswillbe described here,-r

This `movable 'l to l a substantially .U-shapedf, bracket` garrn .or V100 barV 321 through `the medium Vof afyielda'ble' connection 33 which, in this instance, ising` the shape of Va comparatively stili,coilspringj` i positioned arounda pair ofstuds'ecarried' by ,they switch Vplate .17'. and thel bracketA arm 32, respectively; .i Thefouter `angular ends. of Athe bracket arm, 32 are eachprovided with a square opening 35' for-"the receptionffof the v lsupporting bai` 36, which latter is 'i rigidly idly attached at one end, as at 40, andsup-Y porting at its opposite or freeend a latch member 41, the outer terminalend ofwhich relative parts of the signal system and W1th the signal positioned within the housing. Y

is beveled, as indicated by the numeral 42. The finner end of the latch 41 is also beveled,

' as'V indicated bythe numeral 43, but the angle of bevel is v'slightly'less Vthan that at'the other end, and the latch memberl v41 is provided adjacentthe beveled end 43 with a recess.

44 adapted to receivethe upper edge of they .ad'acent end 45 ofthe bracket arm 32.

lhe tubular-rack bar 7 has rigidly attached to it a laterallyextending trip arm 46 which has the .upper edge of its outer termina'l end oppositely beveled to provide a pointed edge 47which is'adapted to engage andV coperate with the 'beveled ends 42"of the springlatches. 'Coilsprings 48 and 49 are positioned between the opposite ends 45 of the bracket arm 32 andthe triparm'46 and serve to move the bracket arm 32 in .0p-

' posit'efdirections vas will4 be explained later.

' Since ,the switch plate'17 is carried'by the bracket arm `32,it will be apparent that as the trip arm46 moves forwardly inthe direction indicated by the arrow in Fig.` 4 that the pointed end 47 will engage the trip member 41a`nd `move the same upwardly and release the end from'the notch 44, Vwhereupon the c'oilspring 4 8 will exert its expan: sive forcev to throw the bracket arm 32 forwardly, andfconsequently shift ,the switch plate 17 sofaslto bridge the secondary cir- ,cuitfand -open'the primary circuit asthe signal is extended into a complete display Y Y position. W'henVV thesignal has been cxk ktended to a complete Ydisplay position,"the

automatic lswitch actuating means willaassumethe position shown .inFig 3. f

It will also' y.be app'arent'from this lthat when the signal'is moved back into the hous# ing that Vtheftrip arm 46ewill first comefint'o member 41A, at the same time 'compressing engagement with Vthe opposite springl'atch i 1thespring49, andxiby its further movement willi release this spring latch member and 'consequently allow the expansive force of the spring 49 to throw the bracket arm 32 in n jtheoppositedirection and'thus again shift j 'i InV 'order so tvhefswitchA plate 17, so Ialsto bridge the 'primarycircuit; A l to fmove nthesignal out of and into `the housing, I have-provided a suitable reversible motor 50 that maybe vconveniently i supported within the housing and the armature shaft 51'isk connectedto the rack bar 7 @rouge the 'medm 0f' rSuitable freie "0i gears 52. By operating the motor in one direction, itiwillbe seen thatt'he rack bar 7 will be extended out of thecasing and by operating the motor in the reverse direction, y

the rack bar'w'ill be' moved back into the vhousing A Referring of the signal appliance is briefl as follows: The"diagrammatic view in Flig. 8 represents Vthe normal position of the various When 1t is desired lto signal to the rear ofthe motor vehicle of the intention of the motor vehicle operatorv to either stop; or turn to the right or left, he pushes the button 66v which will'move the contact plate 70 into Y' engagement with the contact 68, thus 'comf pleting the primary circuit. AsVv soon as the primary circuit is completed, current will flow from'the battery 72 throughA the wire 7 3 to fieldof the reversible motor '50', from the motor 50 through the wire 74 tothe contact 26, throughV contact 23, contact 28, through `wire to the motor armature brush `76,

through .theJ contact plate 77 rigid onthe armature shaft 51,' through armature brush 78, through wire-79, tov contact 25, and then.

to Figsf V8 and 9, the operation Y through contact 22'to Contact 27, through y 'extend the signalfrom the" housing into'` av vrdisplay position.` This primary circuit will remain closed until the trip-arm 46 moves ,beneath the latch `member 41 at the outer end `of the supporting bar 36 and disengages it from r'the end 45 of 4the bracket arm 32, whereupon the spring 48 will moveythe bracket arm longitudinally on the sul portcircuit fand close the secondary circuit at this a complete 'display position.

occurs at the instant that the' signal reaches ingv armi-136' and simultaneously shi tfthef switchuplate 17 so asjto openthe primary point.: This shifting of the switch plate 17 Y back under its spring tension intol contact with the contact 69, the secondary circuit will be completed and the current will flow,

as indicated in Fig. 9, from the battery72j thrughwire 73 to the'field of the motor 50,V

from the motor field through wire 74 to" contact 26,'through contact 20 to contactpoint 25', through wirej79' to armature brush78,

Z6- to wire 7 5, and thence tofcontact point 28', through contact 21, contact point`27, wire 80contact point V29, wire 83 to contact Yplate -through'contact ring 77 and armatureibrush contact plate 68, and back through wire 82 to the battery, thus reversing the actionv of the motor50 and causing the signal to move back into the housing. l When the signal has reached a complete inoperative position within the housing, the trip arm 46 at that instant will engage the innermost spring latch'38 and disengage it from theadjacent Y end 45 of the bracket arm 32 and thus allow the tension spring 49 to move the bracket arm 32 longitudinally of the supporting arm 36 and at the same time shift' thesw'itch plate 17 to automatically open the secondary circuitand close the primaryv circuit at this point so that the latter may be completely closed the neXt time the push button 66 is pushed in and the contact 70 moved linto en".

gagement with contact 68.

From the foregoing description,'taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,

it is to be understood that such changes in.

construction and arrangement of parts may be made when desired as are within thescope of the appended claim. 1 v

`ilclanm- Y i i, Y A vdevice ofthe character described comprising a frame-having'a supporting bar, a p switch operating member extending along saidbar and .havingend portions extending .at an angleand slidably mounted on said bar, an operatingmember slidable on said bar between said end` portions, coiled member and end .4 portions, and spring latches carried bythe framel at-the opposite ends, of 'said bar to engage and hold said end portions alternately, said latches and voperating member having coperable portions whereby the movement of the operating member in either direction will, in'con-V` tactingfwith the corresponding latch, move the latch toreleasingposition.` y I y In testimony whereof` I have signed my name to this specication in`-the presence of two subscribingwitnesses. A

' Y 1 CHARLES M; HEID.

-Witnesses FRANK P. HEID, GEO. J. HAMBURGER.

Asprings on said bar rbetween said .operating l f 

